The Legend of Zelda: Overflowing Darkness
by Zelda Zoldyck
Summary: After an unfortunate battle, Link is no longer the Hero of the Goddess, but the Hero of Darkness. He is on a quest for dark power and will do anything to gain it. His fairy companion, Strata, who was created from the Master Sword's light, travels with him on orders from the goddess and her own need to find the remaining light inside him.
1. Prologue

"Link. Link! Don't be reckless!"

"If I don't destroy it soon the whole area will be drained of life! I have no time to strategize!"

A giant monster stood before them, made of pure darkness with a lion-shaped body and a snake's fangs. Its mane burned with black fire. It had a tail that was thick and long with a black jewel in the middle. Its claws dug into the earth, draining and devouring the life from the surrounding forest. Link charged toward the demon, Master Sword in hand. A fairy emitting silver light followed behind him.

"If you cut off its claws we may be able to prevent it from taking more life, but you have to hurry, it gets stronger with every passing second, Link."

As Link dashed toward the monster's claws, a tentacle sprang from its side and lashed at him. He parried just as two others came from the beast's chest. Now surrounded on all sides, Link began charging a spin attack. He waited until the tentacles were about to hit him before releasing his power. The tentacles dissolved but were only replaced by six bigger, stronger ones. He used his sword and shield to block the flurry of attacks. As he was distracted by the others, a tentacle snuck up behind him and wrapped itself around Link's ankle. It then pulled his feet out from under him and threw him backwards. Link landed on the rocky ground hard, but mostly unharmed.

"Link, you have to listen to me. Absorb my power, it will make you much stronger than you are now. At the moment, you can't even get close to the thing, much less kill it. You need more power."

"I have enough. I do not need yours."

"Yes, you do. Take it."

"No! I will not absorb your life just for the sake of getting stronger."

"I was never meant to be alive in the first place! When you drew the Master Sword its power was too much for your body to handle due to your lack of training. The power that you couldn't handle was taken and I was created from it. I am merely the incarnation of it! The goddess gave me the command to follow and aid you until you were strong enough to wield the full power of the Master Sword. It is the will of the goddess herself that you use my life!"

"If I took a life of a friend I'd be just as bad as that demon!"

"Link, don't be stu-"

"Stop trying to convince me, Strata! I still have power I haven't used yet!"

Link's body started glowing with a blinding white light and strips of his platinum blond hair began to turn silver. His sword emitted the brightest light of all.

"Idiot! You know there's a limited amount of times you can use that power!"

He darted forward toward the demon's tentacles. As they attacked, he let out a burst of power, disintegrating them in light without even lifting his sword. They continued relentlessly attacking him, but were unable to get within a few feet. Link was finally able to get close to the demon's claws. Although, the closer he got to it, the more the range of his light decreased. The power of the darkness around it was suppressing Link's power. The tentacles had given up their attack and retreated as Link became close enough to slice the first set of claws. He directed all his light energy to his sword, so it glowed even more fiercely and became twice as powerful as before. He ran up to the claws and drew back his sword, putting all the strength he could into the swing. Once he swung, a beam of light came from the sword, cutting off all the claws in a row. The demon roared as black blood oozed from the spot where the claws were detached. Then, suddenly, the evil pressure that was suppressing Link before grew greatly in strength. The light of his sword decreased to almost nothing and he had to struggle to stay standing. A tentacle whipped from the monster's stomach and wrapped around Link's torso. This time, it kept a tight grip on him as if rose up to the snake mouth of the demon. Link could still barely move from the dark pressure and was helpless as the light around him was extinguished. The only thing that remained of the power that had just been coursing through his body was three silver highlights in his hair. He was almost to its mouth when a bright silver streak slashed through the tentacle holding him. Link tumbled to the ground and luckily had the tentacle as a cushion when he landed. When he opened his eyes he saw Strata glaring down at him.

"You would have died if I hadn't been here to cut through that disgusting thing! You're so idiotic! If you would just combine my light with yours, you would be able to withstand the darkness that thing produces!"

Link stood and retrieved his sword and shield from the grass-covered earth, ignoring Strata.

"Why didn't cutting off its claws seem to weaken it any? It only got stronger once I did it."

"I was observing from a distance as you were attacking it. The jewel on its tail would flash whenever a new wave of tentacles attacked you. I believe that is where its power comes from."

"Okay then, I still have another chance at beating it."

"Not without me you don't."

"No, I can do this without you."

"How are you supposed to even get clo-... No. Link we don't even know if you could control that amount of power without me. You could destroy the whole forest! Or even yourself!"

"I have to try Strata. I can't take your life. I just can't do it."

Link lifted his sword in front of himself.

"No! Link, Stop!"

"I call upon the goddess Farore. Please lend me your abilities in my desperate time of need."

Link lifted the Master Sword above his head.

"Lend your strength to the Hero of the Goddess!"

A pillar of green fire blasted down from the heavens and enveloped Link completely. It receded after a moment, leaving Link pulsing with green fire. Automatically, he exploded forward at superhuman speed around the demon to its tail. Tentacles chased him, but Link covered so much distance, so fast, they couldn't keep up. Link reached the tail in seconds, leaping to the gem. The tail moved quickly and drew back so that he missed his opening. It then swung itself back at him with the gem facing the opposite way, so Link couldn't break it. Link brought his leg up and kicked the tail away in an explosion of green. The tail slammed into the ground, revealing the jewel. Link landed and lifted his sword to the sky once more. All the fire around his body receded to the sword. He threw his shield to the ground and jumped on the tail as it began to rise. He raised his sword above the gem with both hands and slammed it down, smashing it apart. There was silence, then laughter.

"You may have defeated me, but in the process, I have defeated you, Hero of the Goddess."

Darkness violently exploded from the gem, surrounding Link and extinguishing his flames.

"Link!"

Strata flew toward him but was too late. A sphere of darkness had already imprisoned him and was floating upwards. The demon slowly began to dissipate.

"The Hero of the Goddess will stay in that state for three years. When he comes out, however, he will no longer be the hero of a goddess, but the Hero of Darkness."

The last thing Link saw was the pitch black of his imprisonment and dark future.


	2. Chapter 1

It had been almost three years since Link was sealed in darkness. Every day, Strata had waited patiently nearby. Over the years, the black sphere poisoned the surrounding area as it hung in the sky, turning it from a beautiful forest to a dry wasteland. It was nighttime and Strata was staring at the gloomy sky as she sat on a rock.

"Tomorrow is the day. It's been one thousand and ninety-four days and tomorrow will be the ninety-fifth. I can't believe it's been so long. What did that demon mean when he said Link would become the Hero of Darkness? Can a hero of light really turn evil? If so, with no one left to destroy the darkness..."

...

The next day, the sun began to set. Strata, knowing it was almost time, flew up toward the sphere. She had analyzed it for days after Link was trapped, trying to find a way to help him escape. It had hardened after it had consumed him and had a similar appearance to obsidian, yet was harder than diamond. There wasn't a single flaw. As twilight fell, the prison began to sink down to the ground. Strata floated down along with it. It arrived at the ground and hovered. It then suddenly burst out in a dark purple light and shattered into tiny glass-like pieces. A power escaped that was so strong, Strata felt her consciousness leave her and she fell onto the sandy ground. The purple light faded and in the shattered obsidian, Link was on his knees. His head was down, blond hair and silver streaks covering his face. A black aura encased him, pulsing with power. Link stood and lifted his head. His hair parted to reveal a timeless face that hadn't aged a bit in three years. The only difference was that his eyes were no longer leaf green, but glowing blood red. He grinned a cruel smile and strode towards Strata. He stopped in front of her and glared down. His glowing eyes seemed to burn into her as he bent over and reached toward her. His hand wrapped around her and in sudden pain he dropped her again. His hand was steaming and burning, he could no longer touch pure light without consequences. A bloody gaze fixed on Strata as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Link... Link, you're okay..."

As Strata's eyes began to focus, she saw the intense red of his eyes and began to falter.

"You... You aren't..."

Link's grin widened.

"I'm not Link?"

His voice was the same as before, yet with something darker behind it.

"Let me reassure you. I am Link. Just not the same Link as you knew before."

He giggled.

"Do you know how it feels to be concealed in darkness for three years? At first it was... Painful... Not seeing even a trace of light was driving me insane. I couldn't fall asleep. Something was forcing me to stay awake. But after a while, I decided to accept it. The darkness was quite receiving to someone who bathed in light his whole life."

Link stood up straight and raised his head to the stars in the sky.

"Look how amazing the darkness makes everything. The stars wouldn't be able to shine without it."

Strata was shocked. Her eyes were wide as she took in the person Link had transformed into.

"Come with me Strata. I may be different in a way, but I'm still the same Link deep inside. Besides, I remember how faithful of a companion you were back then. You will be useful."

"Your aura. I can barely move around it. Even if I decided to go with you, I wouldn't be able to move."

Link laughed.

"That will be no problem if you agree to come with me. Don't ask where we will be going though. I can't trust you with that information yet."

Strata would've paled if she wasn't already shining silver.

"I bet you're wondering how I already have an objective in mind. The darkness consulted with me a lot in those three years. Are you coming or not?"

"Yes, I still have orders to stay with you."

"Good."

Link lifted his hand. Dark aura swirled in his palm and condensed into a shape. It was a bottle, made of the same material as the sphere, but see through. He picked Strata up and swiftly popped her into it, wincing in pain.

"I'll be able to carry you without touching you this way."

Link stuck the bottle in one of his pouches and began moving through the rocks and sand. Strata was wondering why Link bothered with her. She shouldn't matter to him now. Maybe it was possible that he really did have the real Link somewhere deep inside. He did sound slightly similar to the true Link near the end of the conversation. Then again, maybe he needed her to get where he was going. But if he needed her, why did he want her to agree to go with him? Why not just force her to go? They trudged on through the desert. The malevolent Link with a fairy of light, traveling to an unknown destination.


	3. Chapter 2

Link and Strata had been journeying for hours through sand with no sign of any life. Strata had never thought that the sphere would've sucked the life from the land miles upon miles away. There was a stunning sunrise of pink and gold in the sky, blinding Link as he trudged forward.

"Link, aren't we moving a little too slowly? Once the sun climbs higher in the sky, it will get much hotter. I won't be affected, for I do not need food or water to survive, but you could become dehydrated and I'm sure you're already hungry."

Link seemed slightly annoyed by the question.

"Don't fret over me, my body isn't the same as before. I'm unaffected by things such as food and water now. Even though I can get hungry and thirsty, I can't die from it. The same goes with a lack of sleep. I can get sleepy, yet not die from it."

Suddenly, the sand in front of Link exploded. Link launched himself backwards, avoiding the attack only to have the sand behind him burst as well. He was thrown off balance and fell sideways, but quickly regained his footing. By that time, the attackers had already retreated back under the sand.

"Did you see what kind of monsters they were, Strata?"

"I managed to get a glimpse of the one that ambushed you from behind, but it wasn't good enough to identify the species. Although, considering the terrain and how they are attacking, they are most likely either Leevers or Moldorms."

Link reached to pull out the Master Sword by habit, then remembered he no longer had it. Even if he did, he wouldn't be able to touch it. He was completely defenseless. He felt the ground beneath him shift slightly and managed to roll to the side, but as he did, the bottle with Strata inside tumbled from his pouch, onto the earth. Link didn't notice until he had dashed a good distance. He began to run back, but this time the monster didn't run to the cover of sand, but took the chance to go after Strata. Link saw the monster clearly now. It had a shape similar to a slug, with a green, slippery outside and four claw-shaped extensions coming from the top of it. The extensions were flexible, had tiny teeth on them, and were used for grabbing their prey. A Leever. It wasn't too big, and was sticking straight up, halfway out of the ground. It moved through the sand by spinning, directly toward Strata. Link was darting back to her as fast as he could, but it was obvious he would be too late. It snatched up the bottle and sent one of its claw-shaped arms to pull her out. All of a sudden, Link's vision was painted red. He felt excruciating pain throughout his entire body. His teeth grew into fangs. His bones began to reshape. In a split second, he was no longer a human, but a wolf. The wolf-Link's fur was platinum blond with three silver vertical stripes on its back and had completely red eyes. Link snarled and launched himself forward. The leever's teeth were wrapped around Strata and starting to puncture her skin. Link's paws barely touched the sand as he ran. Just as the leever pulled Strata from the bottle, Link tackled it and ripped off the arm holding Strata with his teeth. It screeched and attempted to escape under the sand, but Link tore it out of the ground and continued to shred it to pieces. Once he finished he turned to the fairy on the sand. She was unconscious and bleeding from multiple wounds. She fidgeted.

"Link... Thank... You..."

Sand exploded from all directions. Twelve leevers had appeared and began circling Strata and Link. Completely surrounded, Link looked from one leever to the other, trying to devise a plan. Then, just as all twelve of them closed in, Link took a deep breath and let out an ear-shattering bark. The dark aura surrounding him conjured into a giant, shifting mass right above him. It then took the shape of a gigantic wolf. The wolf of darkness then breathed black fire from its mouth that spread along the ground, destroying all of the leevers within seconds. Strata and Link were the only two who weren't touched by the fire. Link let out another powerful bark and the wolf condensed around Link, encasing him in aura once again. Knowing nothing could've survived the black fire, Link calmed down and returned to his original form. He then picked up Strata and examined her.

"Oh good. I was really quite worried, but these injuries are nothing a little red potion can't fix."

Not much later, Link had finished healing Strata. He sat next to her, a smirk on his face and cruelty in his eyes.

"We couldn't have anything happen to you. After all, you're my key to the Inverse Master Sword."


	4. Chapter 3

"...Link?"

"Oh, so you're finally awake? It took you a long time, we're already out of the desert."

Strata stood and analyzed the area from the small view she had in her container. They were in a luscious forest, filled with life. There were birds chirping and squirrels scampering through the grass. After being in a wasteland for almost three years, she hadn't seen anything so amazing. It was late evening, and she could watch the clouds crawl in the sky through the trees. She closed her eyes and listened to nature's music of birds, bugs, and wind through the leaves. She wished she didn't have a slight echo from being inside the bottle.

"How long have we been out of the desert?"

"About an hour ago shrubs and small bushes started popping up and eventually, we were in a thick forest. It was a bit sudden."

"Hmm. I'm guessing we're still in the outskirts of Lanayru. We must be close to Eldin and the abandoned Sheikah village."

"How much farther until we get to the village?"

"It would be about an hour's walk from here."

"Well, I'm bored of walking."

Link shut his eyes tight in concentration. A few moments later, unbelievable pain shot throughout his body once again. He fell to his hands and knees as his body began to grow bigger. His arms and legs grew longer. His neck extended and he grew a mane. He had shape shifted into a blond horse with a silver mane and tail. The horse's eyes glowed pure red, just as the wolf's did. Link turned around and gently picked Strata's bottle up in his teeth.

"Uh, um, Link, I don't think I like this idea."

Link started into a gallop. Strata began bouncing up and down inside the bottle and hitting her head on the top.

"Ouch! LINK!"

Link breathed in and out quickly.

"Was that a laugh? And yuck, I can feel your breath through the bottle!"

Link laughed again and sped up.

"I swear I'm going to get you back for th- Ouch!"

...

Not much later they stumbled upon a narrow path.

"This is the way to the village."

Link changed his direction to follow the dirt road. A few minutes later they could see a clearing in the trees. Link leaped into the open space, changing back to human form as he did. He studied the area, Strata still between his teeth.

"Link, could you please remove me from your disgusting mouth."

Link plucked the bottle from his mouth and placed it in his pouch. The town was small, with only approximately ten houses scattered around. All of them were decrepit with holes in the roofs and walls. Most didn't even have walls and were caved in. Link walked through the town and looked at each of the houses, searching for one that he could rest in without worrying if the roof would fall on him. He started to get aggravated at the lack of results after only a few minutes.

"There doesn't seem to be even a single livable house!"

"Wait, look to your left, at the edge of the town! That house looks nothing like all the others."

Link moved his gaze to the edge of the town and saw a house in almost perfect condition.

"There has to be someone living there. Or either they lived there very recently. We should go check it out, Link!"

Link jogged over to the house and was about to knock on the door.

"Wait!"

Link lowered his hand.

"What is it? I'm very tired and I plan on resting in this house whether I have to force whoever lives here to let me in or not!"

Link's cruel outburst scared Strata. The real Link would never say such a thing. He would knock and if no one was there, or if they refused the let him in, he would find another place to stay. His words startled her so badly she couldn't speak.

"Well? What is it?"

His eyes showed how impatient he was as he turned his head to look down at her. They were glowing much brighter than usual. This caused her to remember her words.

"Y-your eyes! Won't they be scared of the red in your eyes?"

"As if I care."

Link banged on the door.

"But if they're scared of you they won't let you in!"

"Are you deaf? I told you, I plan on getting inside no matter what I must do!"

Just as Link finished talking the door opened, revealing a young woman in a worn blue dress that had an unusual white pattern at the bottom. They stared at each other for a moment before the woman covered her mouth in surprise.

"There's no way... That can't be possible. Those red eyes... Komji! Komji, you have to see this!"

Link and Strata were both surprised at how she seemed more excited than scared. A young man suddenly appeared behind her.

"What's wrong? Who is th-"

There was sudden silence. Link was tiring more and more by the second and refused to wait any longer.

"Can I stay the night to rest?"

The man and woman continued to stare at him.

"Can I come in or not? I don't have time to sit here and wait for your answer all day!"

The man came out of the daze first.

"Y-yes! Of course you can! Come right in!"

They backed away from the door to allow Link inside. As he stepped in, he looked at the two people more closely. The man was wearing a purple shirt and pants with the same unusual white pattern on the bottom as the woman's dress. Their features were both very similar, the only big difference being that the man had silver hair and the woman had brown hair. The most unnatural feature they both had was almost colorless gray eyes. The women stumbled over her words.

"C-can I get you, uh, something to, um, e-eat?"

"That'd be nice."

"You can sit at the table and wait if you wish. It's in the room to the right."

Link walked into the room and sat down at the table.

"Link, there's something weird about those two."

Link pulled Strata's bottle from his pouch and sat it on the table, so he could see her as they talked.

"They seem to be hiding something from us. Their eyes are especially weird."

"Yes, I agree. However, I am much more powerful than them. I could tear them to shreds in an instant."

"What if they were to poison your food?"

Link laughed.

"I'm immune to poison. There isn't a thing they could do to me using my food."

The women then walked in a few moments later with a bowl of soup and some bread. As Link began to eat, the man and woman sat down across from him. The man spoke.

"Would you mind if we asked you a few questions while you eat?"

Link gave them a cold stare. The woman began to look worried.

"I'm sorry! I can't believe we forgot to introduce ourselves! My name is Yuika. This is my older brother, Komji."

Link said nothing, so Strata decided to speak.

"It's nice to meet you both. Since Link is eating, I'd be happy to answer your questions as best I can. Although, you have to answer one of mine first."

"Of course."

"Why are your eyes so colorless?"

They both paused and glanced at each other for a moment. Then Yuika motioned for Komji to speak.

"Since this man seems to be one of us, I will tell you."

Strata didn't understand what he meant, but decided to go along with it.

"I placed a spell on both of our eyes to hide their true color."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? Because we are both Sheikah."

Link spit out his soup and Strata gaped at them.

"But that's not possible! All the Sheikah were slaughtered!"

"Almost all the Sheikah were slaughtered. Our parents managed to escape and raise us until we were 10 and 11. They were captured and murdered for their eyes after that, just like all the rest. It's disgusting how people will murder for money. But the real question is, how has that man survived as a Sheikah without being killed for his eyes?"

Link burst out in laughter.

"You-you really thought I was a Sheikah?"

Link breathed a few deep breathes to stop his laughter.

"I am not a Sheikah. Although, my ancestors did have relations with the Sheikah tribe, so it's very possible I have Sheikah blood in my veins. Luckily, it is nowhere near enough to cause my eyes to be red."

The two Sheikah blanched.

"Don't worry, I have no reason to tell anyone your little secret."

"How can we trust you?"

"You'll just have to. It's not like I really care if you trust me or not anyway."

"Explain to us why you have red eyes then."

"It is from a new power I recently acquired."

"What kind of power?"

"All I can say is it's for an important quest I must complete."

Yuika's eyes seemed trusting, while Komji's contradicted them. Komji noticed Yuika's trusting look.

"My sister and I would like to discuss this in private."

"Go right ahead."

Komji grabbed Yuika's hand and dragged her from the room. As Link waited for them to return, he continued eating his meal. Upon finishing it, Link felt a sudden weariness sweep over him. His eyes began to drop.

"Link, don't fall asleep. We need to know their answer."

"I don't care what they have to say. I'm going to stay the night here."

Link stood and headed out the way they came in, leaving Strata on the table.

"Link, don't leave me here!"

He ignored her looking to the right at the closed door. He could hear the two siblings discussing with each other. Directly in front of him were stairs leading up to the second floor. He contemplated whether or not to listen in on their conversation, but after a moment, strode over and began to climb the stairs.

"There should be a bedroom up here somewhere."

At the top there was a door to the left, front, and three doors down a hallway to the right. He glided down the hallway to the final door and opened it. Inside was very empty with only a dresser and a small bed with a window next to it. Link crashed onto the bed and almost instantly fell asleep.

...

By the time Link awoke it was already dark out. He laid there for a few minutes, trying to fall back asleep, but unfortunately he couldn't. Sitting up, his eyes were drawn to the view outside the window. He thought he saw a tiny bit of movement through the sliver in the curtains. Sliding to his feet, he crept toward the window cautiously. Something moved again and Link stilled, searching his brain for what it could be. He was on the second floor, so it couldn't possibly be human, right? Creeping closer, Link's heart began to race. He reached out his hand and touched the curtain. Drawing it back slightly and peeking past it, he saw nothing. Was it just his imagination? He backed up, still staring at the window. After a few minutes, he laid back down in bed and closed his eyes. His eyes flashed back open as he heard metal scraping across the floor and a voice whispering, hardly audible.

"Let me go..."

Link sat up quickly and stared in the direction of the noises. What he saw was himself. Another Link was kneeling on in the center of the room, his head down, and arms limp. Around his wrists and ankles were black chains, which seemed to be connected to the shadows in the corners of the room. The Link with no chains was stunned. He didn't understand the scene in front of him. How was there two of him? The Link with chains spoke again.

"Why can't you hear me?"

He lifted his head, revealing eyes which were completely empty and black.

"Or do you refuse to listen?"

A dim, circular, red light appeared inside his eyes.

"Answer me... Please, answer me... Someone..."

Red tears began streaming down his face.

"Someone..."

Suddenly the Link with chains screamed.

"Help me!"

The Link without chains covered his ears and shut his eyes tight. He then mumbled an answer to the other Link.

"But if I help you... It will be me in your position again... I won't help you. I can't without switching roles. I won't be the one in chains again. I refuse!"

Everything turned pitch black as Link faded into darkness.


	5. Chapter 4

Link awoke from his nightmare, drenched in sweat. It was still nighttime out, the moon's light was shining through the window onto the floor. He sat up and stared at the light, knowing he must've had a dream, yet not having a single memory of it. He suddenly felt very vulnerable and had the need to see Strata. Link shook his head.

"What's wrong with me? Why do I feel like this?"

He placed his head in his hands.

"Is it because of that dream?"

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft rapping on the door. Link strode over and opened the door in a crack, peeking out to see Yuika standing there. She looked the same as she had before, but with an anxious expression on her face.

"I have something to talk to you about."

Link gave her a tired look.

"What is it? Isn't it a little late for you to be talking to me?"

"Please. It's very important."

Link began to close the door.

"Wait!"

Yuika slammed her hand in the small crack and cringed at the pain.

"It could be very useful for the quest you spoke of earlier!"

Link thought for a moment, not bothering to open the door to release Yuika's hand.

"How?"

"Just please let me come in. I don't want my brother to hear us."

Link hesitated, then swung the door open and let her past him. He decided as the door clicked shut, he would kill her if she had no useful information. Yuika turned back toward him, holding something up in her uninjured hand so he could see it. It seemed to be a mask with the face of a beautiful woman, who had red eyes and silver bangs.

"This is a mask that has been passed down from Sheikah to Sheikah for generations. One of my ancestors fought in a terrible war and had been fatally wounded. Just before she died, someone sealed her spirit in this mask. She was the most powerful Sheikah of her time because of her immense magical power. One of the shattered pieces of the Lens of Truth was imbedded in her left eye, allowing her to see things that normal people could not. She was born with the power to summon two different weapons in battle, both which controlled a different element. Now, this mask contains all of that power. Although, not everyone can wear the mask. Only someone who has Sheikah blood can activate the mask once it is put on. Since you said it's possible you are part Sheikah, I wanted to give this mask to you to test it. If the mask activates once you put it on, you may keep it. My brother and I have no use for it anymore."

She urged Link to take the mask. He reached and grabbed it, analyzing it more closely. The Sheikah had a faint, black tattoo of the Eye of Truth covering her left eye, which had a purple pupil. Link flipped the mask around and lifted it toward onto his face. Immediately after it touched, he felt it merge with his skin. His facial features changed and he felt a colossal energy shoot through his body. The aura around him became red mixed with black and expanded throughout the house. Yuika flinched at the strength of Link's power mixed with the legendary Sheikah's.

"This power-"

Link stopped his sentence, surprised at how feminine he sounded. When he looked down at himself, his face flushed, his eyes grew wide, and his aura retreated back into him.

"Well, this wasn't expected, and it feels really, um, unusual?"

Putting the mask on had transformed Link into the Sheikah woman. He now had long, silver hair pulled back into a ponytail and a female body. Yuika looked as if she were holding back a laugh.

"Well, I guess I should've told you exactly what the mask did. I honestly didn't expect it to activate though."

Link quickly got over his surprise.

"How do you summon the weapons?"

"Komji and I never were able to control her magic, so we couldn't call forth the weapons. Although, I do know each weapon's name. The first weapon is a sword named the, "Giant's Blade." The second is a naginata named, "Kaji." According to the information that has been passed down, you have to call out the name of the weapon before you can summon it."

"Interesting. I feel an immense energy flowing through me that would enhance my strength even without a weapon."

Link felt like testing the limits of his power, yet had nothing to test it on. He flexed his hands impatiently, then eyed Yuika, eyes flashing with malice. A feeling of unease permeated throughout the entire house.

"I have one more question for you, Yuika."

She seemed unaware of his intent to kill her.

"Yes?"

"You said that your ancestor had a shard of the Eye of Truth inside of her eye, correct? How do you activate it?"

"If you cover or close your right eye, it will trigger the left eye's power."

"Thank you for your help, Yuika. Unfortunately, now that you're all out of useful information, I have no reason to keep you around."

Yuika tensed, unsure of what Link meant.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Link grinned eerily.

"You're so naïve. It means you are going to die tonight."

Yuika, shocked, stumbled backwards into the wall.

"You don't mean that, we share the same blood!"

"As if I would ever care about sharing your blood. I'm indifferent about you being one of the last remaining Sheikah as well. The only thing I want right now is something to test my new power on, or in this case, someone. Your brother, his name was Komji, right? He said he had placed a spell on both of your eyes to conceal their color. If he could cast spells, that means, since you're his sister, you must have some magical skills too. Although you are not an ideal opponent for a person with my kind of strength, you will be enough to at least measure how powerful my new abilities are."

Link released the enormous energy that had been churning inside him. It swirled around him like a tornado, expanding throughout the area. The space in the bedroom seemed to ripple with the red energy Link had freed from his body. The window shattered from the sheer force. Yuika felt herself pinned against the wall. Unable to move, she couldn't cast a spell even if she wanted to. Link then began to focus all the released energy into his hand, and eventually, it started to condense into a sphere. Controlling it masterfully, he forced the energy to become longer and it soon took the shape of a naginata.

"Kaji!"

As soon as Link spoke the weapon's name, it was no longer made from red aura, but solid metal. It looked similar to a spear, however it had a single edged blade at the end, instead of a spearhead. The shaft was a dark blue, while the blade was an unusual orange color.

"You and your brother honestly had problems controlling her magic? That didn't even make me break a sweat! You're both so pathetic I might just kill Komji along with you."

Link advanced toward Yuika, aura still whirling, although not as powerful as before.

"Will you not put up a fight? Not even to protect the little Sheikah blood that remains?"

Yuika looked at Link and tears flooded her eyes.

"It's inevitable for the Sheikah race to die out. Komji and I are the only full-blooded ones left. And soon, it seems you will be the only person left who has any trace of Sheikah in their veins. All I can hope for is that you will one day have children."

Link reached Yuika and stood directly in front of her, almost close enough to touch.

"That's too bad. There is not a single person in this world who could have love for a demon."

Yuika smiled through the tears that were rolling down her face.

"There is always that one person who will look past your dark side and search for the light. No matter how much it may rend their heart, they will stay with you. Even if you are a demon, they will love you."

Link's face twisted into a disgusted expression. He swung Kaji around so that the blade was against Yuika's throat. The naginata was radiating with heat, singeing her skin and conveying Link's irritation.

"Unfortunately, that's not how it works. I'm tired of listening to you talk anyway."

He drew Kaji back and aimed for Yuika's heart.

…

After Link had left Strata by herself, there wasn't much she could do but sit in her bottle.

"I never knew Link could be such a pain. I mean, he was hard to handle, headstrong, and stubborn before, but now he's ten times worse! On top of that, he seems to have no trace of morality left inside him."

Strata was troubled by the lack of light that remained with Link, and also how easily he was angered. The tiniest things could set him off, and once he was set off, there was no telling what terrible actions he could take.

"I don't want to just sit here. Especially since I need to keep him under control."

Strata pushed herself up to a standing position, leaning against the side of the bottle for support. She could feel the effects of Link's aura on her body, but now that he was farther away from her, they were beginning to fade. Deciding to try standing without support, she pushed off the side and spread her wings. She jumped upwards, and with the aid of her wings, she managed to grasp the top of her container. Then, she boosted herself over and landed on the table. She tried to stand again, however her legs would not hold her.

"How the heck am I so tired after moving only a couple inches?"

Strata sighed and adjusted herself so that she was hugging her knees against her chest.

"I guess I'll just have to sit here for a few minutes until I can stand again."

Moments later, Strata heard a door open and Komji and Yuika walked back into the room. Komji looked confused as he searched the room.

"Where is Link? Did he leave? We had decided to let you both stay for the night."

Strata rolled her eyes.

"No, he showed himself to one of your bedrooms. He was too impatient to sit here and wait. I apologize for his stupidity."

Komji was obviously angered by this.

"I swear, I'm going to drag him down the stairs by his stupid green dress."

"Please don't call his tunic a dress in front of him. The last time someone did, it didn't end well. Link ticked off a bunch of cucoos and somehow managed to get them inside the guy's house. I'm not really sure if he survived."

They both stared at Strata with wide eyes.

"Making fun of the way he dresses is the only time Link will ever be willing to harm a person."

Strata then mumbled something to herself.

"Or at least, that's how it used to be."

There was a sudden awkward silence that lasted longer than Strata was comfortable with, so she chose to break it.

"So, uh, could you help me out? I can't move very well and Link left me here. I need to keep an eye on him. I am his fairy after all, keeping an eye on him is what I'm supposed to do."

Yuika nodded.

"I'll carry you upstairs. Do you want me to put you back in your bottle?"

"No thanks, I like the fresh air."

Yuika scooped Strata up in both her hands, turned around, and carried her towards the stairs.

"Why did Link leave you down here?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I'm guessing he was annoyed at me for trying to get him to wait for you and Komji."

"Oh, well I'm sorry we made you two wait for so long."

"No it's fine. Link has just become extremely hasty recently."

They reached the top of the stairs.

"Do you know which room he's in?"

"No."

Yuika began knocking on every door, opening it once no one answered, checking for Link. Finally, they ended up at the final door in the hallway. Yuika knocked, but there was no answer. She shot a questioning look at Strata. Strata nodded and Yuika opened the door in a crack. They both saw Link sleeping on the bed, so Strata whispered.

"Since he's asleep, could you put me on top of the dresser over there?"

Yuika stepped lightly over to the dresser and sat her on the top. Then turned around and tiptoed back to the door, waving to Strata before closing it. Strata observed Link as he slept. He was wearing no covers, which was normal since he thought they felt restricting.

"At least he still has some of his old traits."

Fairies don't sleep, so Strata just laid on the wooden dresser for a few hours before she heard Link moving. If he knew she was in his room, he would be seriously angry with her, so Strata quickly slid between the dresser and the wall. Her back was against the wall with her feet on the dresser, pushing her up. The problem was, now that she was around Link's aura again, her strength was mostly gone. She felt her legs give and had to suppress a scream as she fell, hitting the ground hard and rolling under the dresser. Link then sat up in bed, giving Strata a shock. Had he heard her? She could only see Link from the knees up as he stood. Slowly, he crept toward her and with each step Strata grew more and more anxious. Then suddenly, Link stopped and turned toward the window. So, he hadn't noticed her. She was wondering why he was at the window, but was far too scared to peek. After a few seconds, Link walked back to the bed and laid down. Strata let out a breath of relief. She relaxed on the floor, there was no way she was going to move and risk Link hearing her. It was a good thing Link's aura stifled the light Strata emitted. However, not long after she had relaxed, she abruptly felt as if she were being watched. It was a disturbing feeling that something was directly behind her. She began shivering. It was either inside or directly outside the room. Quickly after she realized that, she decided to attempt to warn Link, but she was too terrified to move. She would have to yell to him.

"Li-"

Instantly after she had begun to say his name, she felt as if something were stuck in her throat. She struggled to breathe, but eventually she began to lose consciousness. She forced herself to crawl across the floor, but before she made it out from under the dresser, she was unconscious.

…

Pain blasted through Strata, waking her in a haze of red. She had been banged into the wall by some kind of force, leaving her in a daze. Someone else had been slammed into the wall between the dresser and window. Strata glanced up and saw Yuika. She could see Link's boots as he walked toward her. There was something wrong. They were Link's boots, but the person in them wasn't Link. Strata could tell by the aura. It was similar to his, yet there was something different about it. She couldn't hear anything and her eyesight was blurry. Yuika's mouth was moving, but Strata could hear no sound. That's when she saw the person who was supposed to be Link hold a blade to Yuika's throat. Strata began thinking hard. If this was Link, why is his aura so different? No, that wasn't what she should be thinking about. She needed to find a way to help Yuika. Strata attempted to speak again, but her words still wouldn't come out. Since the aura was holding her against the wall, she couldn't move either. There was nothing she could do. Then, the blade drew back and headed straight for Yuika's chest.

…

In the few seconds it took for Link to draw back Kaji and aim for Yuika's heart, the door to the bedroom had burst open and Komji entered. He pointed his index finger at the arm holding the naginata and shouted a command.

"Aisu!"

Link's arm was quickly covered in ice and frozen from the shoulder down. He dropped Kaji and as soon as it touched the floor it dissolved back into the surrounding aura. Link turned and saw Komji standing behind him. At first, Link was shocked, then hatred burned through his body. His red eyes lit with a fiery red light. The temperature in the room rose dramatically and the swirling aura increased in power once again. It took all Komji's strength to stay standing in the same spot.

"If you touch my sister again, I won't just freeze your arm."

The unexpected laughter that came from Link surprised Komji.

"It seems like you'll be much more of a challenge than your sister. This will be fun."

The ice on Link had already begun to melt. He tried to move his arm and the ice easily cracked and fell off.

"Although, if you want to stand a chance against me you'll have to do better than ice."

Komji readied another spell, but before he could even blink, Link had covered the distance between them, grabbed his shirt, and slammed him into the wall with one arm. There was a crack left on the wall by the impact.

"You'll also have to be faster than that."

Link then spun around and hurled Komji across the room. He hit the floor hard and rolled a few feet before stopping. Komji struggled to get back up, Link advancing toward him swiftly. Before Link reached him, Yuika jumped in his way, blocking Komji with her body and lifting her hand to cast a spell. Link merely swatted her aside with his arm, smashing her into the wall with a loud thump. After a few more steps, Link was standing above Komji.

"I guess I overestimated you. You're just as useless as your sister."

"Shut up!"

He lifted his head and Link's eyes widened. Komji's eyes were shining a fierce crimson, bright enough to break the spell on them. He lunged at Link, tackling him to the floor.

"You'll pay for hurting Yuika! I'll kill you!"

Link began to counter attack, but paused as blood trickled around Komji's eye. He saw an image of a Link in chains, crying tears of blood. Link was too stunned to move before Komji punched him in the face. There was something Link had forgotten right at the edge of his mind, but the more he tried to remember, the more he seemed to forget. He got aggravated more and more at himself and was so deep in thought, he didn't even notice Komji's second punch. To Komji, punching Link was like punching a brick wall. After the impact, Link's head barely moved, and it seemed to hurt Komji's hand more than Link's face. Komji's anger grew.

"If punching won't work, I'll burn you to death!"

Komji pointed his finger at Link, but before he could begin to name the spell, Link brought his leg up and kicked him off. He landed a few feet away.

"Shut up, I'm trying to think."

Link sat up and put his chin in his hand, thinking hard.

"Ugh, I can't think at all in this annoying body!"

He reached up to his face and slid his fingers under the small opening between his face and the mask. As he removed it, his body glowed and he transformed back into his normal self. Komji stood back up.

"Do you really think you can stop in the middle of a fight to think?"

"Shut up."

Komji lifted his hand and begun another spell, which was much easier now that Link's aura had decreased in power. Link saw another image of the Link in chains and remembered the words, "Let me go."

"Aisu!"

Ice covered Link's legs and connected them to the floor. This caused Link to forget the words. He yelled at Komji, eyes glowing scarlet.

"I told you to shut up!"

Link stood, breaking free of the ice with ease. Komji was surprised and scared by this.

"You have that much power even without the Sheikah mask?"

Link didn't answer, but merely walked to the window, opened it, and jumped. Once he landed, he strode to the woods to attempt to restore his lost dream, leaving Komji frozen in place and Strata confused at what exactly had just happened.


	6. Chapter 5

As Link walked through the woods, he thought of the events that had happened that night. After he had gone upstairs and fallen asleep, he woke up some time later and saw something outside the window. After investigating and discovering nothing, he had gone back to sleep. Anything that had happened after that was gone from his memory. Until Yuika had knocked on his door that is. The Link in chains flashed in his mind again.

"That's it! I must've had a dream!"

A childish voice answered him from the trees.

"Hehe! So you finally remembered? It took you long enough!"

A girl leaped down from a tree branch and landed in front of Link. She looked by no means normal. Her skin had the appearance of broken glass. It was pitch black and the cracks that covered her were glowing a lavender color. She had no eyes, only eye sockets that were shining the same purple color. Her hair was bright green and braided down her back. The bangs that were loose from the braid were even longer than her actual hair and fell down to her waist. She wore a plum-colored dress that stopped at her knees, along with green sandals. She seemed to be around ten years old. Link had never seen any monster like her before, so he guessed she must be from some kind of tribe similar to the Sheikah.

"What do you mean, "I finally remembered?" Who are you?"

"My name is Nanikay, call me Ikay for short. I come from the Xeroa Tribe. We Xeroa have heightened senses and almost all of us are insanely skilled assassins."

"Okay, whatever. How did you know I had a dream before I knew myself?"

"Hehehe! Why should I tell you? You aren't my master."

Ikay grinned, revealing razor sharp teeth.

"Stop messing around and answer me."

She made a pouty face at him.

"Fine, party pooper. I was hired by someone to keep an eye on you. I figured I'd have a little fun in the process."

Link was getting impatient.

"Fun?"

"Yeah. One of my unique powers is I can give people nightmares that relate to the most scarring thing that's ever happened to them."

"In that case, were you the one I saw outside the window? And can you tell me about the nightmare you gave me?"

"Unfortunately, no. I don't get to enjoy the terror my victims witness in their dreams. I have absolutely no idea what your dream was about. To answer your other question, yes I was outside the window. In fact, I saw everything that you did. You were quite cruel to those two. The way you hit… What was her name? Yuki or something? She probably died. That, or she's in really bad shape. It was pretty amazing to watch, though. How exactly are you so powerful anyway?"

"My abilities are none of your business. Anyways, if you can't tell me anything, I have no reason to talk to you any longer."

Link turned and walked away from Ikay. However, as soon as he'd taken a few steps, he had a creepy feeling. It felt as if someone were right behind him. The hairs on his neck stood up and he swiftly turned around, only to see that Ikay was gone. He turned in a full circle, but the Xeroa was nowhere to be found. He began walking again, slightly nervous. As he strolled through the woods, he became lost in thought of his dream again, which made it even more surprising when something hit him hard on both of his shoulders.

"What the-"

Link glanced up to see Ikay sitting on his shoulders.

"Get off of me!"

Ikay ignored him.

"You know, back there I got really angry at you, but I decided to cool down before I did anything rash."

"I swear if you don't get off of me, I'm going to kill you."

She ignored him once more.

"After I cooled down, I decided I actually like you! We should be friends!"

Link was about to say, "No way," but ever since he turned to the Hero of Darkness, no one had told him they liked him or that they wanted to be friends with him. Not even Strata. He suddenly felt an overwhelming emptiness and fell to his knees in pain. Ikay jumped off his shoulders.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

In the haze of loneliness, the memory of his dream suddenly flooded back into him. At first he was stunned, then he gripped his head in frustration.

"What… What is that supposed to mean? That never happened to me in real life! Switching roles? I don't understand!"

"Whoa there, calm down. What are you blabbing about?"

"The idiotic dream you gave me! It makes no sense!"

"What do you mean it makes no sense?"

"What was in my dream had nothing to do with anything that's happened to me!"

"Huh? That's weird. Well, no use in trying to figure it out then. I'm sure it'll come to you eventually."

Link began to calm down and pushed the memory to the back of his mind. He slowly stood back up, embarrassed that he broke down in front of a child.

"You got better fast! Hehe! So… Can we be friends? I may be a little girl, but I could be more useful than you'd think!"

Link thought about this, then accepted.

"Fine, but weren't you hired to stalk me?"

Ikay's green eyebrows shot up.

"Oh, yeah! I forgot! That's an easy fix. I'll just give them false information about you."

"Who hired you anyway?"

"Someone called Colan."

Link was confused by this.

"Colan? I used to know him."

"Really? How?"

"He was a friend."

The truth was, Colan used to be Link's best friend when they were very young. They were great friends up until he had become the Hero of the Goddess. After that, he had no time to visit friends or family. His time was completely consumed by keeping darkness at bay. Link hadn't talked to Colan in many years.

"Oh, okay!"

It was obvious Ikay had already lost interest in the conversation.

"Can I get back on your shoulders now?"

"No."

"Please?"

"How about this, I'll let you get on my shoulders, but only if you can go back to that house, retrieve my fairy, and come back without a scratch."

"Okay!"

Immediately after she said that, she darted off so quickly, Link didn't even see her move before she disappeared.

…

After Link had jumped out the window, Komji adverted his attention to Yuika. She was slumped against the wall, blood trickling down her face. He scrambled toward her, terrified at what he'd find as he fumbled for a pulse in her wrist. Finally, he felt a small, weak thump against his fingers. Almost bursting into tears, he prepared a healing spell.

"Iyasu!"

Yuika's body shone with a faint green light and her injuries began to heal.

"Please be okay. Please, please be okay."

Strata was still under the dresser. She tried to move but was too badly injured from being slammed into the wall. Her voice was weak, but she could finally talk again.

"Help… Komji…"

It was barely loud enough for Komji to make out the words, but he managed.

"Strata? Is that you?"

He looked around the room and saw Strata lying underneath the dresser. He went across the room, reached under it, and grasped her in his hand. Lifting her to his face, he analyzed her.

"You look terrible! I'm not positive, but I think your arm is broken. Let me heal you real quick."

He raised his finger.

"Iyasu!"

Strata automatically felt her arm begin to repair.

"You're amazing, Komji."

Apparently, her voice had completely come back too.

"Not as good as the older Sheikah. They were amazing. They could easily heal someone in Yuika's condition. I can't. I can heal all her flesh wounds, but not anything internal besides broken bones. And her head hit the wall insanely hard, so she's badly injured. Any damage that happened to her brain, I can't fix."

Strata didn't know what to say to that.

"Don't worry Strata, as long as she's alive, everything will be alright."

It sounded like he was reassuring himself rather than Strata. Komji placed her on top of the dresser.

"Stay here."

He then went to Yuika, picked her up gently in his arms, carried her to the bed, and carefully laid her down. He leaned against the wall next to the bed, his worried gaze fixed on his sister.

"She's all I have left, you know. After our parents were killed, all we had left was each other. It's been that way for twelve years now. We don't have any friends because we can't trust them. If they were to find out about our true identities, we'd be in serious danger. I have no one but her. If she dies, I'll die with her."

"You have me, Komji. I'm your friend."

Komji looked at Strata with tears overflowing his eyes.

"Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me. I'm sure it'd mean a lot to Yuika too."

Strata smiled at Komji. They both remained in the bedroom, waiting to see if Yuika would awaken. Strata looked outside. Dawn was almost there. With every passing minute, Strata could feel the tension in the room grow. Komji began to fidget and was obviously getting more and more upset.

"Komji, don't worry. I'm sure she'll wa-"

Strata's sentence was abruptly cut off as she was grabbed and taken outside through the window. She heard Komji begin to yell her name, but she was traveling so quickly she only heard the first syllable before Komji was out of earshot. A child's voice rang out to her in a singsong tone.

 _Don't worry little fairy_

 _We'll be having lots of fun_

 _I'll take you to your master_

 _Before the night is done_

…

Link had only been waiting seconds before Ikay appeared in front of him, holding Strata up in her hands.

"See? I did it! Can I get on your shoulders now?"

Link hadn't expected her to get out without a scratch, especially since she was only a kid. Then, he remembered what she had told him earlier, about how almost all the Xeroa where skilled assassins. He moved his hand to his pouch, but then realized he had left the bottle at the house too. He lifted his hand and began manipulating his aura. After a few moments, a new bottle sat in his palm.

"Could you put Strata in here?"

"Only if I can get on your shoulders afterward."

Link was exasperated.

"Fine! Just put her in!"

Ikay popped Strata into the bottle, then jumped up, did a spin midair, and landed squarely on Link's shoulders. Strata had only just then come to her senses.

"Link? What's going on? Who is that disturbing little girl? I thought she was kidnapping me!"

"She's a friend, I sent her to get you. We're leaving for Stigma Mountains. I've wasted way too much time in this area."

"Stigma Mountains? Are you crazy? There was a curse placed on them centuries ago, causing evil to swarm there. That place is infested with powerful monsters! Plus, there's an active volcano in the center of the mountains! Do you have a death wish? "

Ikay smirked at her.

"You know, Strata, that's where my tribe lives. I wouldn't talk bad about it if I were you."

Link looked around, but couldn't see the mountains through the trees.

"Strata, which way are the mountains?"

"Link, please reconsider this."

"Tell me. There is something I must retrieve from there."

Strata gave up and pointed to the east.


	7. Chapter 6

As they made their way to the Stigma Mountains, Nanikay talked nonstop, Link ignored her, and Strata was deep in thought. What exactly did Link need at the Stigma Mountains? All that was known to be there was evil and darkness. Centuries ago, there was a tribe on the mountains. They had the entirety of the mountains to themselves except for the mountain in the center. The middle area was considered highly sacred, in fact, there were even rumors of a god living inside there. The tribe worshiped the mountain and as long as they did, they were blessed with peace and prosperity. After a while, there became doubts in the so called, "god" living there. Eventually, there was a small group who decided to investigate and see if there really was a god. They entered the sacred area and searched. After a few days, two of the searching members stumbled upon a cave. No one knows what happened to them, they entered the cave and were never seen again. After they entered, the holy mountain became controlled by darkness and the tribe living there was cursed. Strata thought there must be something hidden in the cave there. Link had said himself there was something on the mountains that he needed. But what could it possibly be? They had already halved the distance to the side of the mountain. Ikay had finally stopped talking once she noticed no one was listening to a word she said. Time went on in silence. Eventually, Ikay ended up falling asleep on Link's shoulders, leaning against his head for support with her arms drooping to the sides. Strata was surprised Link didn't seem to mind. Not long after, they came across a small clearing in the trees. As they approached the center of it Link saw a figure laying on the ground. He paused for a moment staring at the kid, but then continued to walk. Strata couldn't see the boy from inside Link's pouch until they had already passed him.

"Wait! Why are you leaving him there? See if he's okay!"

She already knew the answer to her question. Link wasn't the same as he used to be. The hope she had at first had been slowly draining out of her, leaving her feeling as if there was no way to turn Link back to normal.

"Why should I help him? He's of no use to me."

Strata wished she could fly to the boy and aid him, but she just had to be stuck in a bottle. There was no point in trying to argue with Link, she knew this, but that's when she thought she saw the boy move.

"Link, stop! He moved!"

Link disregarded her demand without a word. The boy pushed himself off the ground and saw them walking away from him. His grey eyes grew with astonishment and he pushed himself off the ground. Strata could what he looked like as he stood. He had spiky, brown hair, a dirty white shirt, sky blue pants, and a grey scarf wrapped around his neck and half of his face, so his nose and mouth were covered. He ran toward them, shouting muffled words.

"Hold on! Please help me, sir! I've been-"

Somehow the boy had managed to trip over his own feet. Once again, he pushed off the ground, stumbling into a run.

"I've been lost in this forest for days! I don't even know how I got here in the first place!"

Link stopped at this, turning around to face the boy as he finally caught up to them. He thought the boy's story may be amusing.

"What do you mean?"

The boy seemed to be very relieved that Link was going to hear him out.

"I woke up in a tree in the middle of this gigantic forest. I can't remember anything. I don't know who I am or how I got here. All I know is my name. It's Falt."

Falt took a deep breathe since he had said all of it so quickly. Then tears welled up in his eyes and he said something inaudible. The scarf kept stifling his words. Strata decided to ask him about it.

"Is there a reason you have that scarf covering most of your face? We can't hear you very well because of it."

Falt lifted his hand, wiped away the tears that had started to form, and stroked the scarf with a considering look on his face.

"I'm not really sure why I wear it like this. I've worn it like this ever since I woke up. It makes me feel safe, I guess."

There was an itchy feeling in the back of Falt's mind that told him there was something else about the scarf, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

"Sir, I'd even be grateful if you could just point me in the direction of the nearest town. I need to find out if someone around here knows me. I can't stand knowing nothing about my past, family, or who I am. It feels like there's an enormous whole in my chest. I'm unhappy and I don't even know why because I can't remember a single thing besides my name."

He looked up at Link, tears filling his hollow eyes once again. Link's eyes were emotionless as he stared down at the boy, but there was some unusual feeling inside him. A feeling he hadn't felt in such a long time, he didn't even remember what it was anymore. That's when Link too, felt a hole in his chest.

"I… The nearest town is that way."

Link pointed in the direction of the Sheikah town.

"The town is mostly abandoned, but there is one house with residents. I'm sure they'll help you."

Strata was so shocked that Link had helped the boy, she couldn't breathe in for a few moments. Falt jumped towards Link and hugged him.

"Thank you so much!"

Link immediately pried Falt off of him.

"Get going. Search for your memories."

Falt was beaming at Link now, crying as he did. A second later, he turned and began running in the direction Link had told him to go.

"I'll never forget how you helped me… Wait a second."

Falt tried to stop running, but as he skidded to a stop, he tripped over a rock.

"Owww!"

He stood back up, turning to Link again.

"I didn't catch your names."

Link spoke.

"My name is Link. My fairy is Strata and the girl on my shoulders is Ikay."

"Link… Okay! Thank you again!"

He spun around and this time, he made it out of sight without tripping.

Strata was slightly annoyed.

"I bet he remembered your name and not mine or Ikay's. That's what usually happens to the ones who travel with a hero."

Link chuckled.

"It sure is."

For a moment, just a small moment, Strata thought he sounded like his old self again. He turned back to the direction of the Stigma Mountains.

"We're behind schedule now."

He immediately dashed her hopes as he said that. His voice sounded cold. Maybe his kindness was just her imagination?


	8. Chapter 7

"Finally! I was beginning to think we'd never get here!"

As soon as they had approached the side of the mountain, Ikay woke up and leaped off Link's shoulders, running excitedly toward the wall of red rock. The mountain was very steep and there were almost no footholds.

"It's a good thing you're my friend, Link! 'Cause if you weren't you'd have a really hard time getting up this mountain!"

Ikay turned, lifted her hand, and pressed it against the rock. When nothing happened, Link gave her an unimpressed look.

"Was that supposed to make it easier to get to the top of the mountain? Putting your hand on it? It sure seems like it'll be easier now."

Ikay wasn't listening, she was concentrating too hard. The cracks on her hand suddenly began to glow a more intense purple and she gritted her teeth. Then, a burst of lavender shot from her palm and into the rock. Cracks spread out in all directions from her hand and the rock continued to crack until it all crumbled away, revealing a hidden passage with stairs leading upwards. The remaining rubble crunched under Link's boots as he stepped through the entranceway.

"Well, it seems placing your hand on the mountain really did make things easier."

Ikay beamed at him.

"Cool, isn't it? How I used the energy inside me to break open the door? Well, I actually wasn't supposed to break it, I was only supposed to move it to the side, but completely destroying it just seemed like more fun! Anyway, these stairs lead to the entrance of my village. We can rest up there if you want."

"I won't be needing any rest, I only need information."

"Information about what?"

"About something hidden in one of these mountains."

"Oh, if you want information, you should talk to my teacher. She knows pretty much everything! Do you want to have a race?"

Link raised an eyebrow.

"A race?"

"Yeah! Not too far up the stairs, the path splits into two. Both paths are the same length and lead to the village, but one will take you inside the village and the other just outside of it. We should have a race to see who can get to the center of the village first. There's a big shrine there, you can't miss it."

"This does seem like it'd be more entertaining than just walking up the stairs, but I know how fast you are, it'd be impossible for me to beat you there."

"Hmmm… Then how about this, I'll take the path that leads outside the village. It'll take longer to get to the center of the village from the outside. Besides, that route also has way more monsters to- "

"Whoa, hold on a second, monsters?"

"Uh, yeah, this is the Stigma Mountains you're traveling in. There are monsters practically everywhere. As I was saying, the outside path has way more monsters than the inside path, so it'll take me longer to reach the end of it."

"But with your speed, couldn't you just run past all the monsters without being noticed?"

"Ugh! You're ruining my easy win! Fine! I'll fight and kill every single monster that crosses my path, okay?"

"That sounds better. Although, I'm sure it'll still be quite the challenge to try and beat you there. Good thing I enjoy a tough challenge every once in a while."

Link smirked and his red eyes gleamed with amusement. Ikay grinned back at him.

"Let's get going then, friend. It won't take long to reach the separating pathways."

…

Upon reaching the two dividing routes, Strata finally decided to speak up, even though she figured Link would only ignore her.

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea. What if one of you gets injured? It'd be much safer to travel together. Especially since there are powerful monsters in here."

Link answered.

"It's not like I'll be alone, Strata, because I have you, and you're very helpful in a fight."

Ikay cut in.

"Yeah, and I can take care of myself, thank you very much!"

Strata was surprised that Link had replied so calmly, then she surrendered.

"Alright, let's just get this over with."

Ikay seemed pleased that they were finally about to begin.

"Okay, the path on the left is the one that'll take you into the village and the one on the right will take me outside of it."

Link stood in front of the left passage, Ikay in front of the right. As they were about to begin, Ikay's eyebrows raised in alarm.

"Dang, I almost forgot to mention something really important to you! So, one of the main reasons the Stigma Mountains have so many monsters gather on them isn't just because of the darkness that lives here. These mountains are a place were two realms overlap. There's the realm we live in, the Pendent Realm, a world that hangs between light and darkness. Then, there's the Silent Realm, a completely different world filled with power that no one from this world could ever comprehend. A world of neither light, nor darkness, nor anything in between. Sometimes, monsters from the Silent Realm find their way here. In fact, I've even seen a few of them, although I've never fought one. They're… different from your typical monsters. The most common ones are what we call, Guardians. They're kind of like ghosts, they float and can go through walls. However, unlike ghosts they always seem to have a solid form. They also carry these weird weapons. This is where things get bad. If you're hit by their weapon, you're a goner. No one knows what happens exactly, but every person who's been hit by one so far, has gone into a comatose state. And they're never injured physically by the weapon, it seems to just pass right through them. Not long after they're hit and go into a coma, they die. They're hearts just stop beating. There have only been a few people who have managed to live more than a couple hours in that state. I'm telling you this as a warning. If you see any monster with an unusual, pale green aura, I suggest you run. I have orders to run, those are the only monsters I'm forbidden to fight. Okay! Now that that's out of the way, ready to race?"

Strata was staring at Ikay like she was insane, which she probably was.

"Are you out of your-"

Link interrupted her.

"I'm ready."

"What? I'm surrounded by lunatics!"

Ikay and Link both tensed, preparing to dart up their staircases. Ikay began the countdown.

"Three."

"Link, I swear if you don't listen to me!"

"Two."

"Link!"

"One."

"We're all going to die."

"Go!"

They both began climbing their stairs.


	9. Chapter 8

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="582ba41d0e43bd255250a81828e19636"Link hadn't realized beforehand that Ikay's skin was the only thing that had been creating any light. He had tripped up the stairs multiple times because there wasn't nearly enough for him to see where he was going. Eventually, he ended up removing Strata's bottle from his pouch in an attempt see even the slightest bit./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="637b72cab9d281ec899bf90ee2cf2e2d""Why did you still agree to race with Nanikay even after what she told you about the Silent Realm monsters?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="163983da13b142e3775465ce10abbb6e""Because this is exactly what I wanted."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8245555eaff93377a26d5730dd900101""Huh? What do you mean?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8490522cd4def2d51e2e59fe756f2f32""Remember when I said I wanted to go to the Xeroa village to get information? Well, I no longer need to go to the village because Ikay told me everything I needed to know."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="23b406c5d574c2198cdb35c24e1a0635""You wanted information about the Silent Realm?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="86ff88f90b2733dcc65f298230493ed7""Yes. Within the three years I was inside that sphere, the darkness told me about the Silent Realm. I merely needed to find a way to get there, and now I have."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="41811316e2e8990cc60629c398190939""But Nanikay never said a thing about how you get there, only that monsters from there sometimes end up here."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bdf4776f5c9076990ead39c1c858272f""The way there is through the Silent Realm monsters. Combining what the darkness told me with what Ikay said, makes everything obvious. The weapons she said the Guardians have, when they hit you with them in this realm, it separates your soul from your body. The soul goes to the Silent Realm, while the body stays in the Pendent Realm. Since your soul is in the Silent Realm, so is your consciousness. Once your soul is there, you can move around and do things there just as you would here. However, if a Guardian in the Silent Realm hits you with its weapon, it shatters you soul. In other words, you die."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3ef2dd46c153b93c6bccf06b1a375260""So the others who were hit by the weapons, they went into a comatose state because their souls were sent to the Silent Realm? And then they died later on because their souls were hit by a Guardian in the Silent Realm?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6d474f37c95bc22d0047f1080d618c94""It's actually just a theory, but I'm about ninety percent sure it's correct."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1b45d90ef4972554621c5ad2e3269d51""Farore help us all, you're starting to sound like Fi."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d8096fe1aab7cb5c6416a424289a3133""Who?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="fb57f8ea1f95c685d7cd5bdaf1cd8d69""Oh, never mind."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3db6cba57087449d61d839dfe6b39a1d""Well, anyway, I plan on finding one of those Guardians and getting it to hit me."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6b372dbfbe940a8ba12db69ba58906a6""That doesn't make any sense, though! Why would you even want to go to the Silent Realm in the first place?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cfde212fa41f8a311465a0badc1ae03b""Like I said before, there's something hidden in these mountains that I need. What I didn't say before, was that it's hidden in these mountains in a different realm."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="612319a39fe0fba46a8cb1481275500a""But that's insanely dangerous! How are you going to survive there if just one hit could easily kill you?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1151c68961a02986f1cf5a5af2d558af""I'll just have to hope I can use my aura there. I know the Sheikah mask wouldn't be transported to the Silent Realm with me, so all I'll have to use is my au-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="45c21f9958a63a4d548cc77369e60ce2"Something with eight legs fell directly onto Link's face as he was about to end his sentence. He screamed, but it was barely audible since his entire face was covered with a skulltula. Strata stared in horror./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c642431cdbe3fea941efe9b23f1bfe47""Oh great goddess Din, what in Hyrule is that! Link, pull it off!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="fb4c94d7619c34837af7ebd937a0c45c"An incomprehensible noise came from Link as he reached up with the hand that wasn't holding Strata's bottle and attempted to peel the skulltula off of himself. It refused to budge, in fact, it clung even tighter than before. He ended up having to drop Strata out of his other hand, so he could use it to help with the skulltula struggle. She rolled down quite a few stairs before finally coming to a stop. He managed to get the skulltula half way off of him and breathed in a few quick breaths before it latched back on again. He yelled it the best he could./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3b2207f9ad78d8cfaeea5b588bc3606e""Okah das eouf!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9f91f53f0e539c6b0c7af0d430e46b71"Dark aura burst from his hands and entered the skulltula's body. Then Link moved his hands off the skulltula and out to the side so that a trail of aura was running from his hands, into its body. He thrusted his hands out and the aura was like a rope, pulling half of the arachnid one way, and half of it the other. Part of the skulltula fell to one side, and part of it fell to the other, a yellow-green liquid oozing from its ripped insides and dripping down the stairs. Strata cringed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5e7e170ed771a986d5ada054523098fa""That is so revolting."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3c90a0b4ef40334568fb487a41242c4d"Link replied, still breathing heavily./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c736aaa91edf8b162e880a1554b2f425""Keep stating the obvious, Strata. Keep stating the obvious."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a1d556ec0d89d2f92c0c3a9bcb46db44"Link's sarcastic comments were really beginning to get under her skin./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7c1d7b99e5c5a1f69b795d6cfc16ce57""Aren't you sick of being such an... an... octorok sucker with all those stupid comments of yours? You'd never do this if you were your old self!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ac2c57b04fe6bddc49d7569e54d8d050""Don't speak to me like that, fairy scum!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4c1707192339ad321c93d5b3115373b8"Link started down the stairs toward her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a61e54bb5b4c89e3710b4994c2364c64""You do nothing to ever help me. I know you're more focused on helping the old Link. The Link that no longer exists. Why don't you give up already? There's no hope!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8d2c8c4796165972ed7d5f720723bd3d"Link stopped in front of Strata, his aura began pulsing with fury and his voice dripping with animosity./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="229b30402cd8b02fbe6eae97772e940d""This is who I am now! I crave darkness! I need power! I don't care who gets in my way, if they do, I will destroy them without a second thought!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3d81c8947c4eb2e5dbc4317756a68302"The darkness around him became unstable and began to shake./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5bf797709d6e916307983db9dfa31590""I thought my old friend would accept me, even though I changed! Is that not what friends do? Am I wrong? All those memories we made, do they mean nothing to you? You treat me as if I'm alien, when I'm still the same person you used to know!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1dc805327a3852944400637a1526617a"With that, to Strata's surprise, Link shed a tear. She sat there, silent at first, then replied to him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="483e84d21e2bf58bc71b961e1dbecda1""You're contradicting yourself. You say the old Link is no longer here, but then you say you're the same person you used to be."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4ad8f6d2d67d0f2b9aceb175ed1be472"She leaned forward, thinking hard./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="eba37fee2d5b14cd520992a9b6092e49""So could that mean... There really is hope? Is there still a bit of light inside you fighting? In a way it is like you're arguing with yourself, saying the old Link is gone, but then saying you are him... It has to be... Link! Are you in there? Please give me some kind of signal! Show me that you're still fighting for the light! Please, Link! Please! Please! Please!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="eac68772ae3ba78bb82bc8412098d781"Now Strata was crying, tears of light filling her eyes until they overflowed. Link was silent, staring, and angry. His fists were clenched at his sides. He wanted to destroy Strata, but some undistinguishable force was holding him back. That force was coming from within him and he couldn't understand it, and that enraged him. It took all of his strength, but he pushed the force back and took one step forward./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8c60c5265feeae064e2654e76e5299f4""How many times do I have to tell you to give up? There is absolutely no hope! Even if there were some bit of that Link left inside me, the darkness will hold him, and eventually, the light will be extinguished."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e8890797b36d4b15b57426fb73b2af30""You underestimate the power of the light. You of all people should know exactly how powerful it is since you've witnessed it firsthand."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ea18a75ee405a00a45c0c48983344856"Link's face grew gloomy and dark as if he'd lost his will to argue any longer and picked her up off of the stairs/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="10685d2132ae3958dec32f830e032ade""I'm finished with this. It is only keeping me from continuing my quest."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f67077a53e923beb7c2cfb938d12986f"Strata understood that he would not talk to her even if she tried, so she stayed silent as tears continued to stream down her face, making plinking noises as they hit the bottom of the bottle. They continued moving up the stair quickly, not realizing that they were being followed by a black figure. The silhouette smiled. Link and Strata were getting close to exactly where it wanted them./p 


End file.
